Habana to feature for Springbok Sevens

Toulon have given legendary winger Bryan Habana permission to compete for South Africa in the World Rugby Sevens Series tournaments in Las Vegas and Vancouver next month.

The Springboks' record try-scorer in Tests will link up with the squad on Tuesday after being cleared to play in the Las Vegas event from March 3-6 and Vancouver a week later.

Habana's Toulon team-mate Quade Cooper also took the opportunity to try his hand at sevens rugby with a view to featuring for Australia in the Rio Olympic Games this year, while Sonny Bill Williams made his sevens debut for New Zealand last month.

Springboks Sevens coach Neil Powell has backed Habana, 32, to make an impact despite his lack of sevens experience.

"Bryan is an unbelievable rugby player and his outstanding playing record and achievements in the Springbok jersey speaks for itself," said Powell.

"I am really excited by the prospects of him joining our training squad."

Powell added: "Bryan is one of those players that always has a lot of energy. Apart from that, he brings with him a lot of experience of playing rugby at the very top level, so in that sense his presence in the squad will also be a great motivational factor for our guys,

"I can tell you Bryan is very eager to learn. He realises that it's been a very long time since he last played Sevens, but he is excited by this challenge and really looking forward to be part of our system."

Habana, who has featured just twice in sevens rugby for South Africa, was a member of the Springboks team that won the 2007 Rugby World Cup.